2015 Age Stateless Unknown 0-4 2,953 4,385 5-11 598 379 12-17 86 94 18-19 24 12 20-39 114 163 40> 6 66 Total 3,781 5,099 In addition, the SMA has informed that 119 children were born stateless to asylum-seeking parents with claims pending in the procedure (and thus not registered in the Population Register) during 2015. By comparison, in 2014, 85 children were born stateless to asylum-seeking parents and in 2013, 66 children were born stateless to asylum-seeking parents.220 While most of the individuals counted in the tables above from 2011 to 2015 are obviously the same, it is interesting to note that the number of stateless children between 0 and 4 years of age steadily increased between 2011 and 2014, and then dropped in 2015. Nonetheless, 78.1 per cent of the stateless persons born in Sweden who were registered in the Population Register in 2015 were in the age group 0-4 year olds. The rise in 2013 and 2014 could at least partly be linked to the increase in the number of stateless asylumseekers arriving in Sweden during the years 2013 and 2015, and their recognition. While the drop in the number of stateless 0-4 year olds in 2015 could partly have been due to the amendments introduced to Section 6 of the Act on Swedish Citizenship in April 2015, which make it easier for a child born stateless in Sweden to acquire citizenship by notification, this does not seem to be the only reason judging by the figures in Table 10 below. Hence, as UNHCR has not been able to further analyse the causes behind this development, it would be interesting to study the reasons closer in order to, inter alia, assess to what extent the notification procedure is known and used, as further discussed below. Another noteworthy development is that the number of children aged 0-4 years registered in the Population Register as having “unknown” nationality also continued to rise in 2015, when the number peaked at 4,385. It would similarly be of interest to investigate the reasons for this development further, including if a reason behind the high number of children registered with “unknown” nationality could be linked to a limited capacity to assess their citizenship status. In this respect, UNHCR would like to recall that its Guidelines recommend that when a State finds a child to be of undetermined nationality, the State should seek to determine whether the child is otherwise stateless as soon as possible so as not to prolong the child’s status of undetermined nationality.221 A direct consequence for the child of being registered as having an “unknown” nationality instead of being stateless, is that the child cannot avail him or herself of the right in Section 6 of the Act on Swedish Citizenship acquire Swedish nationality by notification. The fact that in 2015, 3,781 stateless persons born in Sweden, most of whom are still under 18 years, were registered in the Population Register and had not acquired Swedish nationality by notification is concerning, especially in light of the fact that children who are born stateless in Sweden, have a permanent residence permit, and are lawfully and habitually residing have, since 1 July 2001, been able to acquire citizenship by notification. Between 1 July 2001 and 1 April 2015, the notification had to be made before the child turned five years, while since then it has been possible to submit the notification up until the age of 21 (pursuant to Section 8). 220 Email from the SMA, 4 October 2016; email from the SMA, 12 October 2016. 221 UNHCR, Guidelines para. 22. UNHCR STOCKHOLM, 2016 63